By OBSERVER Newsroom
An accomplished teacher whose career spanned nearly six decades, Gloria Ridgeway Blanchette passed away peacefully on May 22, 2023 in Sacramento following a long illness. She was 91.
Blanchette was born on October 1, 1931 in Selma, Ala. to veteran educators Booker and Laura Ridgeway, who played integral roles in the civil rights movement.
Booker served as principal of a Presbyterian school in Millers Ferry, Ala. — a rural area about 30 miles from Selma. It was there where young Gloria first developed her passion for teaching.
She would go on to receive her BA degree in English from Knoxville College, an HBCU located in Knoxville, Tenn. After college graduation, she returned to Alabama to begin teaching, and eventually met and married U.S. Air Force officer Horace Thomas Blanchette (Tom) in 1954. They had three children: Ronald Blanchette, DDS, born at Craig AFB in Selma in 1955; Angela Blanchette, born at Johnson AFB near Tokyo, Japan in 1957; and Cheryl Blanchette, JD, born at Castle AFB in Atwater, CA in 1967.
Gloria did post-graduate work at the University of North Dakota while her family was stationed at Grand Forks AFB.
In 1970, the family moved to Sacramento, settling in the South Land Park area. Blanchette taught language arts and social studies at John Still and Cal middle schools in Sacramento for more than 25 years. Officially “retiring” from teaching in 1995, she went on to serve as a consultant for the California State Department of Education.
Among Blanchette’s proudest achievements was being a lead author and editor of “Visions – A Career Guidance and Management Guide,” geared toward young Black males. The California Department of Education distributed this publication to schools across the state. She was also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority throughout her lifetime and a member of the Sacramento Links Inc.
In addition to her children, she is survived by her granddaughters Danielle Youngblood Loriente (Pablo) of Orlando, FL; Dominique Blanchette Taylor, PhD (Trent) of Tampa FL; and Gabrielle Blanchette, DPT of Los Angeles, CA; and great-granddaughters Eva and Lola Loriente Youngblood.
She is also survived by her brother William Ridgeway and sister-in-law Charlotte Ridgeway of San Jose, CA; sister-in-law Delores Ridgeway of Los Angeles, CA; sister-in-law Suzanne Blanchette of Sacramento; and a host of loving nieces, nephews, and cousins.